Benefits of Walking

Tiny Tips to Help You Reach Big Goals

Here’s four “tiny tips” that might make the difference for you when you’re feeling a bit sluggish after family get-togethers and holiday parties with delicious dishes and irresistible desserts. Motivation may be the last thing on your mind but a few reminders in the right places at the right time can make all the difference.

Surround yourself with positive visuals. If that means printing out your favorite quotes and posting them in your bathroom, on the refrigerator, around your desk at work and even in your car, then start printing. If you are planning to reward yourself when you achieve a goal, then post a picture of your reward in strategic places to help you focus on what you’re working towards.

Selfie shots. Are you working towards a fitness goal that means losing weight, toning up and/or adding muscle? If so, take your own “before” shots and save them on your phone where you can refer to them in private – knowing that you’ll be taking “after” shots soon.

Ignore the urge to compare yourself. Remember everyone is different and we all have our own starting line. If you haven’t worked out or been active in quite some time, you’re starting line may look very simple. It may mean a 15-minute walk around the block with five minutes of stretching. For someone else, the starting line might be a brisk 30-minute walk or a light jog along a favorite trail.

Eliminate “wasteful” thoughts. Often, we talk negatively to ourselves. Whether it’s thinking how awful you look when you wake up or calling yourself an idiot for taking a wrong exit off the freeway, these thoughts are not only toxic to your mental health but they are a waste of your time. They serve no purpose other than to slow you down in life. They derail physical progress and mental motivation. Imagine how productive you could be if you focused only on productive healthy thoughts and immediately tossed out unhelpful personal insults or derogatory thoughts? Where would that energy and those thoughts go? More physical exercise? More fun projects around the house?

New Year’s Goals and Your Worst Enemy

Enemies are almost never thought of kindly. That’s why you need to recognize one enemy that you MUST treat kindly while, at the same time, refusing to listening to negative comments from. Who’s that enemy? Look in your mirror.

You.

Yes, that’s correct. Your biggest threat to your success is yourself.

You are going to have good days. You’ll also have bad days on your nutritional plan and your fitness plan. You may want to give up. Resolve right now that you won’t listen to the following (or similar) thoughts “I don’t feel good today.” Or “I’m just not in the mood.” Or “I’ll start tomorrow.” Or “Today was a really bad day, I’ll start when I feel more positive.” Or “I’m so tired. I just need to rest.”

Your own thoughts can be your biggest obstacle. Sometimes it helps to just visualize slamming a door on those thoughts as soon as you think them. Sure, counter it with a positive thought like “Walking gives me more energy, so I won’t be so tired so often.” But definitely give yourself the mental picture of slamming a door on the negative thought and padlocking it. When you do that, you are also giving your brain the message that those thoughts are not welcome. In some ways, you will be ‘training the brain’ while you are creating a new habit.

Thanksgiving is time for family and friends. It is a time to reflect and be thankful. It can also be a time to consume a ton of calories. The average Thanksgiving meal has 2,500 calories – well over one’s daily calorie requirement. You would need to walk approximately 51,000 steps or 25 miles (assuming you walk 2,000 steps/mile) to burn it off.

But with a little planning, mindful eating and your activity tracker, you can enjoy your favorite foods without sabotaging your healthy eating goals.

Use your Activity Tracker to help you keep track of your steps.

Use the Food Tracker to check the number of calories in your favorite Thanksgiving foods – it will calculate how many steps you need to walk to burn off a particular food item or meal.

Increase your daily step count and build in a step buffer – taking more steps during the week of and after Thanksgiving will help burn off those extra calories. Just an extra 10 minutes once a day will burn off those 2,500 calories by Christmas.

Ah, Thanksgiving dinner. Friends, family and all that food! Just the thought of it can put one in a carb coma.

But as with all things in life, moderation is the key, so plan your eating strategy. Here are a few ideas that may help you enjoy your time at the turkey table without feeling guilt the next day.

Take time to enjoy your food. Slow down, enjoy your company and eat mindfully.

Take smaller portions. You can always go back for seconds.

Take time to enjoy your indulgences. Rate your favorite foods from 1-10 and eat only 9s and 10s.

Take time and listen to your stomach. When you are full, push your plate away. No need to be stuffed like the turkey.

Take time to eat breakfast and avoid skipping meals before the feast. If you become too hungry you may overeat.

Take a dish to pass. The hosts will appreciate it and you can make sure there is a healthy dish available.

Take a walk before and after dinner. The extra steps will help curb your appetite and steel your resolve.

Take time to compliment the cook – especially if you are doing the cooking.

Above all, remember, this is just one day out of 365. This day will not make or break you if you make wise food choices the rest of the year.

TIP: Use your Food Tracker on your portal/home page before you sit down at the table. Knowing how many calories are in a specific food may help you eat a smaller portion. It will also help you identify foods that are lower in calories.

RECIPE: Sweet Potato Casserole

Try this “healthified” casserole that boosts only 250 calories per serving — less than half the calories of the original 540 calories version.

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About Walkingspree

The challenge with workplace wellness is how to motivate long-term behavior changes in employees to reduce health are costs.

Driving wellness program participation works in the short run, but may not establish lifestyle changes. Behavior changes require commitment to wellness via ongoing engagement. Walkingspree delivers results.

Walkingspree uses technology to deliver an effective corporate wellness program for any industry. The program is based on the use of wireless activity trackers to encourage members get moving and shows how incremental bits of exercise and movement can add up over a day to deliver an effective physical activity program.

This blog is a public blog. Please do not post private information related to your Walkingspree account.

Search

About Walkingspree

The challenge with workplace wellness is how to motivate long-term behavior changes in employees to reduce health are costs.

Driving wellness program participation works in the short run, but may not establish lifestyle changes. Behavior changes require commitment to wellness via ongoing engagement. Walkingspree delivers results.

Walkingspree uses technology to deliver an effective corporate wellness program for any industry. The program is based on the use of wireless activity trackers to encourage members get moving and shows how incremental bits of exercise and movement can add up over a day to deliver an effective physical activity program.

This blog is a public blog. Please do not post private information related to your Walkingspree account.